


Not Just Another Day

by FandomLifeTookMyHandAndSaidRUN



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Birthday Fluff, First Kiss, Fluff, Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-05-09
Packaged: 2018-03-29 18:45:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3906757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomLifeTookMyHandAndSaidRUN/pseuds/FandomLifeTookMyHandAndSaidRUN
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daryl returns from a run to a sweet surprise by Carol.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Just Another Day

**Author's Note:**

> Hit by some random inspiration/headcanon, I whipped up this little ditty. I haven't abandoned my other stories, life simply got in the way with a week long stay at the hospital for my son. He's fine, full recovery, but totally threw my world off kilter. Getting back into the swing of things, and hope to have new chapters for my other stories coming up very soon. Hope you enjoy a little fluff and sweetness. :)

“Welcome back!” greeted Rick, as Aaron and Daryl returned from another long and unsuccessful recruiting run.  He patted Daryl on the back, “Go check in with Carol, heard she’s whipping up something special for you in the kitchen.”  Daryl grunted a nod at Rick, and groaned as he swung his leg over the motorcycle.  They had run into a herd on their way back, and Daryl was banged up, and bruised from fighting them off whilst trying to remain on his bike to get back to Alexandria quickly.  They had run out of food two days prior, he was exhausted, and weak in the knees to boot.

Unbeknownst to Daryl, Carol had done some sneaky sleuthing while he was away.  Daryl was not a fan of birthdays or Christmas, or any day that had anything to do with gift giving.  He never shared his birthday with anyone, and birthdays were generally avoided simply because nobody had a calendar or kept track of the days, until Alexandria.  Part of the interview process at arrival was a detailed history of each of the potential new residents of the community.  It included all pertinent detailed information like birthdate, addresses, education, languages spoken, etc for their own tracking on demographics.  While the interviewees hardly saw the point of it, they all shared this information.  Carol knew when Deanna was out of the house, and used Maggie to access the files and get everyone’s birthdate.  Deanna had a handwritten calendar, so they now knew what the days were.  It just so happened that today, the day of Daryl’s return, was also his birthday.  He didn’t pay attention or even care what day it was, it was irrelevant to him and his goings on in the current world.  

With his bag slung over his shoulder, and crossbow in hand, he slowly limped his way back to the house.  He groaned with every step up to the porch, and leaned heavily into the door as he opened it.  Several steps in toward the kitchen, he was met with the most heavenly of scents.  He rounded the corner to see Carol busily frosting a cake.  The counter was a mess of spilled flour and sugar, some of which was smeared lightly on her cheek.  She had a small smile on her face, and she was humming a little tune to herself.  It sounded oddly familiar to him, but he couldn’t place it.  The scent, a distant memory, smiles.  A woman, with long dark hair, holding his hand on a whisk as it stirred within a bowl.  Tousled hair, and laughter.  “Happy birthday, Daryl…”  A homemade birthday hat on his head, a single candle on his carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday my dear boy, happy birthday to you….”  The candle was blown out, and he looked up at her smiling face, eyes aglow, subtle bruising beneath her eye.  “Don’t tell your Daddy....”  

A whimper, he didn't realize it came from him.  His crossbow hit the floor, and he raised a hand covering his mouth.  Carol startled at the sound, and looked at him smiling, eyes aglow.  “Hey, you’re back!”

Daryl took a step back, dropping his bag to the floor.  He turned, blindly, stumbling back out the door and onto the porch.  Carol grabbed a dishtowel wiping her hands, confused she followed after him.  He stood wavering on the porch, reached out to steady himself against the porch rail.

“Daryl?” she called after him approaching him from the side, giving wide girth, wary of his strange behavior.  He was breathing heavily, as if he couldn’t quite catch his breath.

She stood in front of him, between him and the rail, brushing the hair from his eyes.  “Daryl, what’s wrong?”  His eyes were glassy, and had that far away look to them.  He closed his eyes and shook his head, “S’nothing, m’fine.”

“I don’t believe you.”

With a hand on his shoulder, she gave it a squeeze, “hey, where are you?”

Squinting down at her, “I’m here… I’m here.”

“Talk to me.”

He took a deep breath, “Really, it’s nothing.  Just… got hit with a random memory.”

She was rubbing her hand, up and down his arm.  “Tell me?”

He huffed, “Was my birthday, only good one I remember.  My mom was there, I helped her make my cake.  Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, it was the best…”

Carol smiled, “Well, that’s quite the coincidence.  Come with me.”  She took ahold of his hand, and pulled him back inside the house and into the kitchen.  She pulled a spoon out of the bowl of frosting she was mixing, and handed it to him.  With a few deft strokes of the spatula, she finished frosting the cake in front of him.  “Taste it.”

He put the spoon in his mouth, and there was a flicker of recognition in his eyes.  She pulled open a drawer, plucked out a birthday candle and put it on the cake.  Before he knew it, she lit the candle, and held the plate and cake up to him.  “I pulled my invisibility act, I know you hate birthdays but…. today’s your birthday, I hope you don’t mind.  It’s carrot cake, with cream cheese frosting.  Happy Birthday!”

Daryl’s eyes went from the single candle on the cake, to Carol’s face, and down to the now empty spoon in his hand.  His breath caught in his throat, and he tried to look away, his eyes brimming with tears.  Carol caught on, and set the cake back down on the counter, look of concern on her face.  She pulled the spoon from his hand, tossing it in the sink and took both his hands in hers, rubbing her thumbs over the top of his hands.  Taking a step closer, she could see his wet eyes from beneath the flop of hair on his face.  Tilting her head to the side, she reached up and wiped away a tear that had spilled over onto his cheek.  Frowning slightly, and with a gentle, “ohh….” she reached up and put her arms around him, pulling him down into a hug.

Daryl let out a shuddering sigh, “M’sorry…”

“Don’t be!  I’m sorry, do you not like carrot cake anymore?  It was the only kind we had the ingredients for, and I made it special… just for you.”

He pulled back, wiping his eyes with his hands, looking at the half melted candle.  He gave her a half smile, paused, and blew out the candle.  “Ain’t nobody made me a cake, since my Mom…This is the first time time anyone’s done anything for my birthday since then.”

“Oh, but I’m not done!” she grinned up at him.  She reached high up into a cabinet and brought down a blue bag.  “I fear I’ve turned into a bit of a klepto while you were away, I pilfered these from the pantry.”  She handed the bag to him, it had a simple white bow tied to the handle.  He peered inside, and smiled back at her, eyes twinkling with tearful appreciation.  Inside was a bottle of Johnny Walker, and three packs of cigarettes.  “Oh woman….”  

He opened up a cabinet, and pulled out two glasses.  He poured generously, handing her a glass.  “Cheers!”, and she tinked her glass against his.  Just as he downed his cupful, Rick appeared in the doorway with Judith on his hip, soon followed by Carl, Michonne, Tara, Sasha, Eugene, Abraham, and Rosita.  There was a knock at the door, and the cheerful greetings of Aaron and Eric, and Maggie and Glenn.  They squeezed themselves through the door and into the kitchen, placing a large tray of food down on the counter before Daryl.  “Eric heard it was a special day, so he whipped up some Serious Spaghetti.”  There was clapping and cheers, Daryl blushed and covered his face with his hands.  “Come on people, sing!”  And Aaron started off with the first round of Happy Birthday.  Daryl’s shoulders shook, and Carol weaved her hand through his arm, gripping firmly to his bicep smiling up at him.  When he pulled his hands down, she could see that he was laughing and smiling, and feeling utterly ridiculous.  He looked down at her, she grinned, “Happy Birthday, Pookie!”

He put a finger under her chin tipping her head back slightly, “Best one, ever. Thank you,” and he leaned down and kissed her firmly on the lips.


End file.
